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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

I am posting regarding my 7 month old bunny, who is looking like he is shaping up to be an American Sable. I rescued him when he was 10 weeks old, and at that time he was a dark seal color. He has shed and now has awesome sable coloring. I think he is about 6lbs at this time, and I am hoping that he won't get too much bigger, as we have him in our living room in a cage that he seems to like for the most part. He has made it comfortable for himself with a littler box, water bottle, hay feeder, a towel to chew on, etc. I am just concerned that now that he is about full grown that this cage might be too small for him. BELIEVE me, if I could I would give him an entire bedroom to play around in, but we just do not have the space right now. We will be moving in about 6 month to a larger house, and I will be thrilled when he can romp around whenever and where ever (in a bunny safe space of course) he wants!! I am attaching a picture for you to look at. As I said, he is literally out all day (unless I have a short errand to run), and only sleeps in his cage at night.

Second part of my question is, if this cage is okay for the above circumstance, what if I go back to work full time - 8 hour days with Mr. Tuxy at home. Would he then need a bigger cage?

Thank you so much for listening to me, and me and Mr. Tuxy really appreciate any feedback!

xoxo

Sam and Lady's Human

2006 posts

9/19/2012 8:30 AM

Oh my. You're right, that cage is tiny!! They need enough space at all times to at least take 3 hops across, stand up fully, and stretch out lengthwise. Is there any way you could buy and xpen or some NIC cubes to make a larger out of cage space? If not new, craigslist usually has something I've found.If he's out all day without issue, why do you lock him up at night? Anyway you'd be able to leave his cage open to the space he romps around in all day?

tobyluvSouth Carolina

808 posts

9/19/2012 10:39 AM

That is a small cage. It looks to be about 2 feet across, but maybe less than that in depth. The litter box is taking up a lot of space. It's also not very tall. It would be great if you could set up an x-pen around the cage, or get rid of the cage and just use an x-pen. You wouldn't have to open it all the way right now, since you are limited in space, but when you move to a larger place, you could open the x-pen to as large as it will go. X-pens come in a variety of heights, but it's recommended to get one at least 30 inches high, and 36 is better. Especially if you left the cage inside, your rabbit might be able to use it to jump out of the x-pen.

Most cages sold for rabbits are woefully inadequate in size.

IsabellaRobynScotland

526 posts

9/19/2012 11:10 AM

That cage is tiny! It really is way too small for him, even if he is only in there at night time. It looks more like a guinea pig cage and a small guinea pig cage at that. You should invest in some NIC cubes or an Xpen. Once you get one you'll not regret it because your rabbit will be a happier rabbit. My room has a really big cage in it and I don't mind the lack of space because I can see how happy it makes Belle .

Skipper's MamaFlorida

1252 posts

9/19/2012 1:12 PM

I definitely agree with the others. That cage is tiny. As they said, an x-pen or building a cage would be great to be able to provide for your bun. We didn't have the option of using an x-pen for my bun's housing because we have cats. I would suggest if you have any sort of predator animal as a pet (cat etc.) to build a cage. Any commercial cages that are out there are just too tiny. There was one site we had found were you could buy a cage but it was like $400 almost $500. So we built one. We also made sure to make it a little on the bigger side for her because we knew we would be long hours from home since I am student and work and we would at a later date be housing a second bun in there too. If you are going to build a cage I would suggest thinking about putting it on wheels. I saw that you said you were going to move and being able to wheel it will help in that event.

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